Golden Gate Bridge protest shut down quickly by CHP

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Highway Patrol quickly ended a protest on the Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday morning, almost three months after a massive pro-Palestinian rally shut down the Bay Bridge when President Biden was in town.

The shutdown was reported shortly before 8 a.m. and over in about 30 minutes.

Officials said that there was a demonstration by the Waldo Grade on southbound US Highway 101 near the Golden Gate Bridge Toll plaza.

All lanes were temporarily blocked, according to the CHP, but officers were quickly able to reopen the southbound lanes by simply asking them to move, which they did.

CHP officers used golf carts to help them move the protesters to the sidewalks on each side of the bridge. No one was arrested, the CHP said. 

"We discuss this all the time, and the response is very well coordinated," CHP Officer Erid Edige said. "There’s a game plan for it."

A group called the Palestinian Youth Movement took credit for the protest, saying in a news release that "dozens of Bay Area residents shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in response to Israel's bombing of Rafah, to demand that President Biden stop supplying Israel with weapons and to call for an immediate ceasefire.

When the protesters shut down the Bay Bridge in mid-November, it took the CHP four hours to clear the scene.